A Bond Across Three Generations, Forged in Combat Javascript must be enabled to use this site. Please enable Javascript in your browser and try again. × Search search POPULAR SEARCHES SUGGESTED LINKS Join AARP for just $9 per year when you sign up for a 5-year term. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. Leaving AARP.org Website You are now leaving AARP.org and going to a website that is not operated by AARP. A different privacy policy and terms of service will apply. Close

MY HERO A Bond Across Three Generations Forged in Combat

Eight wars and one set of captain s bars worn by father son and grandson in battle

Lieutenant Colonel (R) Ted Mataxis Jr. (right) stands next to his son Lieutenant Colonel Ted Mataxis III at his home in Southern Pines, North Carolina. When not wearing the uniform, Ted III also works for Lockheed Martin as a Senior Program Manager of a Department of Defense (DoD) Special Operations Forces (SOF) Contract. Cornell Watson to , a free e-newsletter published every two weeks. If you have feedback or a story idea then please . I was always going to be a soldier. My father, Theodore Mataxis, known as Ted, pointed to my mother’s belly in 1944 and said that he wouldn’t have it any other way. Then a major, he rose to become a brigadier general in a 32-year career. Dad dragged us all over the world. We lived in occupied Germany from 1946 to 1947 and then in India, where he attended staff college and was then assigned as a United Nations observer in Kashmir. After that he volunteered to go directly to the Korean War. He was a perennial volunteer and a relentless adrenaline junkie, continually seeking out dangerous roles that no one else wanted. My dad, who died in 2006 at age 88, commanded a battalion in combat in World War II at 26 and a regiment in Korea at 36. He served for four years in Vietnam and Cambodia. I was also in Vietnam for two of those years. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. Although he rose to high rank, he was always a combat soldier first, earning a Silver Star, two Bronze Stars with “V” devices and two Purple Hearts along the way. He referred to his Combat Infantryman’s Badge with two stars — signifying it had been awarded in three separate wars — as his perfect attendance pin. When the Soviets occupied Afghanistan in the 1980s, he served as the field director for the Committee for a Free Afghanistan in Peshawar, Pakistan, making eight trips there to assist the mujahideen against the Russians. That was his fourth war. As a child, I didn’t get to spend much time with him. He would send me letters and recordings from faraway places. It wasn’t until I went to Vietnam as an adviser that we really bonded over our shared love for military life. I never resented his absences because I knew his calling was to serve his country. His values had been passed on to him by his father, a Greek immigrant who arrived at Ellis Island in 1907, where his surname, Metaxas, became Mataxis because an Ellis Island official misspelled it. He was penniless and unable to speak English, but he lived the American dream and built a better life for his family. My father believed that he owed this nation a debt for the opportunities it provided our family. He fully subscribed to the pre-Christian Greek saying “It is a great thing to fight, and die if you must, in defense of your land, your home and your wife and children.” Flowers & Gifts 25% off sitewide and 30% off select items See more Flowers & Gifts offers > Ted III served in Iraq and Afghanistan, carrying on the . If you count Afghanistan in the 1980s and after 9/11 as separate conflicts, that makes eight wars over three generations. My father, my son and I Helen Keller once said, “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” It is clear which path Dad chose to follow. I’m now 78 and look back with immense pride on this man who etched our family name into this great nation’s history. — As told to Richard Baimbridge Theodore Mataxis Jr. retired from the U.S. Army as a lieutenant colonel in 1993. He is working on a memoir about his father, Ride to the Sound of Guns. You can to , a free e-newsletter published every two weeks. If you have feedback or a story idea then please . Do you have a veteran hero whose story might be a MY HERO story in AARP Veteran Report? If so, please . MORE FROM AARP Veteran Report AARP Membership — $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. AARP VALUE & MEMBER BENEFITS See more Health & Wellness offers > See more Flights & Vacation Packages offers > See more Finances offers > See more Health & Wellness offers > SAVE MONEY WITH THESE LIMITED-TIME OFFERS